Presidential Symphony Orchestra
The Presidential Symphony Orchestra, one of the most established art institutions in the world, is one of the rare art institutions that has maintained its continuity in its artistic life without any interruption in its nearly 200-year history. Until the Republic, the name of the orchestra was "Muzıka-i Hümayun" and its activities at this stage were specific to the palace. Giuseppe Donizetti, who was invited to Istanbul from the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Palace, was appointed as the conductor of the orchestra, and the polyphonic music culture was quickly adopted and institutionalized.
The orchestra was moved to Ankara on April 27, 1924, by the order of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and became a leading art institution operating with a brand new approach, aiming to raise the cultural and artistic level of the people. The orchestra (Republican Philharmonic Orchestra) that Atatürk honored by naming it after his supreme office was also the first musical institution in the history of the Republic. In the light of the art and music principles envisaged by the Great Atatürk, it is aimed to develop polyphonic music culture and represent it at the highest level internationally.
Between 1934 and 1935, first Ahmed Adnan Saygun and then the famous German composer Paul Hindemith were assigned to create the programs of institutions providing music education. During this period, upon the suggestion of Paul Hindemith, German Orchestra Conductor Dr. Ernst Praetorius was appointed as the permanent conductor of the orchestra. Praetorius, a valuable orchestra pedagogue, expanded the orchestra repertoire and raised the artistic level of the institution to the international level.
Following the death of Praetorius, Hasan Ferit Alnar was appointed as the first conductor of the orchestra in 1946, and many famous conductors subsequently conducted the orchestra. Lessing achieved great success in the orchestra's domestic and international concerts, and gave particular importance to the first performances of Contemporary Turkish Composers and made their first recordings.
The Presidential Symphony Orchestra, which made its name known on international platforms after 1957, performed in important European countries such as Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Spain, Poland, Czech Republic, England and Hungary. He performed concerts in many different countries such as Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, South Korea, Japan, the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, and contributed to the promotion of the cultural existence of the Republic of Turkey with the positive criteria he received in these tours.
Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Louis Fremaux, Lukas Foss, Walters Susskind, Jiri Belohlavek, Aaron Copland, Jean Perisson, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Karsten Andersen, Bruno Aprea, Massimo Pradella, Tadeusz Strugala, Marek Pijarowski, Andris Poga, Gilbert Varga, Christian Jarvi, Anatol Fistullari has worked with many well-known chefs such as Hermann Scherhen, George Pehlivanian, Michel Tabachnik, Alexander Rahbari.
Andre Navarra, Yehudi Menuhin, Wilhelm kempff, Joaquin Rodrigo, Albricht Mayer, Jean Pierre Rampal, Igor Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Raphael Wallfisch, Hagai Shaham, Truls Mork, Viktor Pikayzen, Julian Rachlin, Paul Tortelier, Pierre Fournier, Valeri Klimov, Grigory Sokolov, Peter Katin, Gary Karr, Stefan Ruha, Maria Kliegel, Elina Vahala, Robert Cohen, Aurèle Nicolet, Janos Starker, Yuri Bashmet, Valeri Oistrakh, Baiba Skride, Mintcho Mintchev, Andor Foldes, Alexander Markov, Johannes Moser, Vaclav Hudecek, Famous people such as Karl Leister, Lothar Koch, Alirio Diaz, Paul Badura Skoda, Natalia Gutman, Sarah Chang, Antonio Meneses, Stefan Dohr, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Roby Lakatos, Shlomo Mintz, Alexander Rudin, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Angela Gheorghiu, Jose Carreras International soloists have been guests of the orchestra.
Our state artists; Suna Kan, Ayla Erduran, Ayşegül Sarıca, İdil Biret, Gülay Uğurata, Gülsin Onay, Verda Erman, Hüseyin Sermet have become the permanent soloists of the orchestra and also the orchestra; He has performed concerts with many valuable Turkish soloists such as Ayhan Baran, Ruşen Güneş, Gülşen Tatu, Güher – Süher Beijingel, Ferhan – Ferzan Önder, Fazıl Say, Muhittin Dürrüoğlu.
The permanent Turkish conductors of the orchestra include Hikmet Şimşek (1959), Gürer Aykal (1988), Rengim Gökmen (2007), Erol Erdinç (2011), Selman Ada (2014), Rengim Gökmen (2015). Cemi'i Can Deliorman has been the permanent conductor of the orchestra since the 2020 - 2021 concert season.
Apart from its periodic concerts, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra has performed more than 2000 radio-television, youth and public concerts in Ankara. It has reached tens of thousands of young people on 36 different campuses with its "Symphonic Evenings on Campus" tours, along with its explanatory educational concert for children.
The Presidential Symphony Orchestra, one of the most important achievements of our Republic's history,
